My Little Pony: Applejack Gets a Break
by The Equestria Goth
Summary: In this story, Applejack decides to take the day off from her farm chores and relax at the Ponyville Spa center while Twilight and Spike handle her farm chores for her, but what was supposed to be a day of relaxation becomes a hardworking day for Applejack when she fixes a pipe leak in the Spa Center steam room.
1. Chapter 1 Take the Day Off

My Little Pony: Applejack Gets a Break

Chapter 1

Take the Day Off

Rarity was relaxing at the Ponyville Spa Center. She was sitting in the steam room relaxing, and as she was relaxing, Aloe came into the room and asked her how long she will be staying in the steam room. Rarity asked if somepony else was waiting and Aloe said that she just didn't think Rarity should stay in the steam room too long or she will get pruney.

Rarity said she was waiting for her friend Applejack to arrive and they were going to spend some time together in the steam room since it had been a long time since Applejack got to spend some time at the spa. So Aloe left the steam room and Rarity stayed in there and enjoyed the steam while she waited for Applejack.

A few hours later, Applejack finally showed up at the spa, but the spa ponies said they were closing up for the day. Applejack came into the steam and found Rarity all pruned up from staying in the steam room too long. Applejack apologized for not getting there sooner due to numerous chores she had to do on the farm. But since the spa was closing, they were going to have to make up for it some other day.

The next day, Neo was walking towards Sweet Apple Acres to get some apple pies from Applejack. While walking to the farm, Rarity, Twilight and Spike met up with him and decided to go with him. Rarity mentioned that Applejack had been awfully busy lately and hasn't had any free time to spend a day at the spa with her. Twilight said that Applejack should set some time aside to spend a day with Rarity and Rarity said that she has been trying for weeks to get Applejack to spend a day with her at the spa, but Applejack has too many chores to do these days.

Then the 4 friends came to Sweet Apple Acres and found Applejack preparing Apple pies. Applejack gave a pie to Spike and Rarity said to Applejack, "I don't suppose those pies are the last chore on the schedule for today?" Applejack said, "Gah! Land's sakes! Is it time for our spa day already? Rarity, why don't you go on ahead and I'll meet ya there?"

But Rarity knew that Applejack wasn't gonna make it to the spa later, Applejack explained that she wants to spend a spa day with Rarity, but all the chores on her farm take up so much of her time. Twilight asked if there was someone else who could help with the chores and Applejack said that Applebloom, Granny Smith and Big Macintosh had chores of their own.

Then Twilight had an idea, she suggested that she and Spike take care of some of the chores for her so Applejack and Rarity can have their spa day. Applejack wasn't sure about it at first, but she said Twilight and Spike can take an hour to feed the pigs and see how it goes. Rarity said an hour would be good enough for her.

Applejack showed Twilight a step by step checklist on how to feed the pigs and she said she and Spike could handle it. And so Applejack and Rarity were on their way to the spa center and with Neo tagging along with them.

End of chapter 1, chapter 2 coming soon.


	2. Chapter 2 Pipe Leak

My Little Pony: Applejack Gets a Break

Chapter 2

Pipe Leak

Rarity, Applejack and Neo were at the Ponyville Spa Center and they were about to get spa treatment. Rarity and Applejack just wanted a day with just them, but they didn't mind if Neo was with them.

Meanwhile, back at the farm, Twilight was reading Applejack's checklist on how to feed the pigs. She read the list and it said the first step was to open the gate, she opened the gate and the pigs oinked. Then the second step said to close the gate, Twilight was confused by this step, but she closed the gate like it said, then the third step said to walk away from the pen. Twilight didn't understand these steps at all, she was beginning to wonder if she was going to be able to get this chore done before Applejack gets back.

At the Ponyville Spa Center, Applejack was worried about Twilight and Spike handling farm work, but Rarity told her that she needs to relax and take her mind off work, Neo agreed with her and said she was looking forward to some relaxing spa time with Rarity and Neo. When they asked for some time in the steam room, one of the spa ponies said they were a little backed up and there was quite a long line of ponies waiting to use the steam room.

When they came into the waiting room, they saw a huge line of ponies and they couldn't believe how long it was. Aloe said that they were having trouble with the steam room, she said the room was taking longer to fill up with steam lately and because of this, they were having to provide the spa customers with hot towels.

Neo went into the steam room and took a look at the pipes that provide steam for the steam room. Neo inspected it and found a leak in the pipe, which was the cause of the lack of steam being provided. Neo came back out and told Aloe that he found a leak in the steam pipes and that explained the problem with the steam room. He said that the leak causes low steam pressure, leading to a longer wait time for the steam room, and providing customers with hot towels uses up the spa's hot water that would normally be used to create steam, thus forming a never-ending cycle.

However, Neo said he didn't have any labor skills or experience so he won't be able to fix the leak. But Applejack said that she can fix it, she put on safety goggles and slipped on a handbag that had tools in it. She went into the steam room and got to work on fixing the pipe leak. While she was fixing the leak, Neo sat out in the hall and played music with his mind to entertain the customers ("Debka Leil Zahav" from the album Dances of the World's People Vol. 4). Sadly, Applejack spent her whole hour off fixing the pipe leak, but she had to get it done.

Once the leak was fixed, the steam room filled with steam and was working normally again. Applejack came out and said, "Whew! Now that that leak's fixed, ponies won't get so cold they use up all those towels! And without all that laundry, there'll be plenty of hot water for all the steam anypony could want!"

Rarity wondered why the spa ponies never thought of checking the pipes for leaks and Aloe said that with so many other things to worry about, they had just gotten used to the way things are. Sadly, Applejack was going to have to return to the farm, she just hoped that Twilight and Spike were able to feed the pigs while she was gone.

End of chapter 2, chapter 3 coming soon.


	3. Chapter 3 Applejack Feeds the Pigs

My Little Pony: Applejack's Gets a Break

Chapter 3

Applejack Feeds the Pigs

Neo, Applejack and Rarity were on their way back to Sweet Apple Acres to check up on Twilight and Spike, and when they got there, they saw Twilight hanging from a rope while holding a piece of corn on the cob over the pigpen. Neo stared at Twilight and said, "I'm afraid to ask." Applejack sighed and said she was going to have to do the chores herself.

Rarity asked Twilight how she got up there and Twilight said that she and Spike tried to follow Applejack's instructions as best as they could. Twilight sighed and said they never even got around to feeding the pigs. Applejack said, "That's alright, Twilight. I know you did your best. I guess a list can't really capture all the ways I have of doin' things."

Twilight asked how their day at the spa went, but Neo said that they didn't really get any spa treatment due to a pipe leak in the steam room which Applejack fixed. Applejack said, "I'm sorry, but I just couldn't let those spa ponies go another minute puttin' up with problems they didn't even know they had!" Applejack walked over to the pigpen, she opened and closed the door and said, "Somehow they just got used to a huge bottleneck of ponies standin' around waitin'. An' I took one good look at that spa jam, and I knew I had to do somethin'!"

Then she walked over to the side of the pigpen and said, "Sometimes the simplest things can just derail a whole operation." Then she babbled at the pigs and made goofy faces at them, then she walked around to the front of the pigpen and said, "Whether it's a leaky pipe or doin' too much laundry. You can't just stick to the same old way of doin' things and expect them to get better."

Then Applejack began clucking like a chicken in front of the pigs, she danced and clucked like a chicken for a second, as she danced, she said, "I mean, thinkin' you can is just plumb ridiculous. Right?" Then she ran into the barn and came out on top and she stood on a ledge. She laughed and said, "It's funny when you realize the extra work they were doin' was actually makin' things worse!"

Then she hooked herself onto the rope and she was hanging over the pigpen, she held out a piece of corn on the cob over the pigpen. The pigs saw it and began running over to it, then Applejack quickly swung to the left, away from the pigpen. As the pigs ran by, a bucket of pig food spilled over into their trough and the pigs ran back over and started eating.

Then Applejack said, "I mean, I guess it's possible to get stuck in a routine where you're doin' all this extra stuff and not realize it, but I can't for the life of me think of how!" She looked over at her friends and they were staring at her, she said, "Why are y'all starin' at me like that?" Neo said, "Applejack, is this shit really necessary?"

Applejack said, "What? Of course! Why would I be doin' it if it weren't? See, this gate here used to squeak so loud, the pigs would run to the other side of the pen and never come out! So I open and close it to let them know it's safe." Twilight said, "But it doesn't squeak anymore." Applejack said, "Of course not! I fixed that ages ago. Then I realized puttin' a little fright into 'em got 'em all hustlin' out of the pen." Spike said, "They don't look scared to me." Applejack said, "Well, no. They got used to it. Which is why I started doin' the chicken dance! To show 'em that if they didn't get to eatin' their food, the chickens would. 'Course, bein' a chicken, I couldn't very well open the gate. Gettin' the food bucket to spill into the trough was just a happy accident because one time I left it there by mistake."

Twilight said, "Uh, Applejack? It seems like everything you're doing is to fix things that aren't really problems anymore." Applejack said, "Well I'll be, I guess you're right." Rarity said, "Hmmm... Maybe it isn't so hard to get stuck doing extra work after all." Applejack said, "I wonder if I've been doin' that around here with anythin' else." Rarity said, "Well, there's only one way to find out!"

And so Neo, Twilight, Rarity and Spike helped Applejack with the rest of her chores and they helped her streamline her chores and cut out unnecessary steps that she had been doing, which gave her more free time. When all the chores were done, Applejack said, "Thanks, y'all. I guess I just got so used to doin' everythin' a certain way, I didn't realize there were any problems." Twilight said, "Having a friend look at what you're doing with an outside eye can really help!" Rarity said, "Mm-hmm! And I suppose if it weren't for our unsuccessful time at the spa, none of us would've realized it." Neo said, "Well, now that your chores are streamlined, what are you gonna do with all the extra time?" Applejack smiled and said, "I think I have a few ideas."

Now that all of Applejack's chores were finished, Rarity and Applejack returned to the spa center to resume their spa day. Applejack was looking forward to a real day of spa treatment. As they waited in the waiting room, Neo came in and asked for a back and neck massage and Lotus gladly put him down.

Then Applejack and Rarity approached him and asked if he would like to join them in the steam room. They said even though they wanted to spend some girl time, he was more than welcome to join them even though he's a boy.

Neo gladly accepted and said they were such wonderful friends, then they flirted with him and gave him kisses on his cheek, which made him blush. They teased him when he blushed and he gave them a hug, and then it was time for a relaxing day of spa treatment for Neo, Rarity and Applejack.

End of chapter 3. The End.


End file.
